Stockmarket game and method

ABSTRACT

A game is provided, whereby a plurality of persons may play in a simulated stockmarket atmosphere, towards the accumulation of profit, utilizing elements of chance and elements of skills. The game includes buying and selling sheets, each having indicia thereon, a board having indicia thereon related to the buying and selling sheets, a set of darts for use in selecting the indicia on the board, a set of dice and two sets of cards having additional interrelated indicia thereon.

United States Patent [72] Inventor William J. Thomas 447 Manorview Ave.,Mount Pocono, Pa. 18344 [21] Appl. No. 762,090 [22] Filed Sept. 24, 1968[45] Patented Feb. 2, 1971 [54] STOCKMARKET GAME AND METHOD 4 Claims, 2Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 273/95, 273/ 1 35 [51] Int. Cl A63b 65/00 [50] Field ofSearch 273/95, 135(C),(1nquired) [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,039,352 5/1936 Ross 3,107,097 /1963 Warden 3,163,424 12/1964Lindsey Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-MarionSiskind Attorney-Paul & Paul ABSTRACT: A game is provided, whereby aplurality of persons may play in a simulated stockmarket atmosphere,towards the accumulation of profit, utilizing elements of chance andelements of skills. The game includes buying and selling sheets, eachhaving indicia thereon, a board having indicia thereon related to thebuying and selling sheets, a set of darts for use in selecting theindicia on the board, a set of dice and two sets of cards havingadditional interrelated indicia thereon.

STOCK EXCHANGE Trading for April 1, I949 AHBUTT LABS l6 GUMBALL CO- ACNEBROS- 37 GULF CORP.

AHBUTT LABS 32 ACNE BROSv 16 BACKSTI 2 FlREBONE C0. 23 SHINLEY CORRFIXBORO INST. STEADYBAKER GUMBALL CO. GULP CORP.

STOCK EXCHANGE Trading for April 1, I959 AHBUTT LABS 42 GJMBALL CO. ACNEBROS. GULP CORP.

STOCK EXCHANGE Truilng for April 1, I950 AHBUTT LABS 47 GUMBALL CO IACNE BROS. l6 GULP CORP. 99 BACKSTIR 1 FIREBONE CO- 57 FIXEORO INST. 89

SHINLEY CORR 27 STEADYBAKER I01 PATENIED FEB SHEET 1 OF 2 ExTRA AT SPLlTSPLIT MERGER DIVIDEND MARKET 3:1 3:2

SPLIT STOCK SOLD EXTRA SPLIT SOLD E 3:2 DIVIDEND SHORT DIVIDEND 312'SHORT SPLIT MER ER SPLIT -AT EXTRA & 2:1 6 3:1 MARKET DIVIDEND I c STOCKSPLIT SOLD SPLIT MERGER DIVIDEND 3:1 SHORT \s 2:1 ii SPL sTocK AT SPLITSOLD SPLIT 2:1 DIVIDEND MARKET 3:2 SHORT 3:1 W

STOCK SPLIT STOCK AT DIVIDEND MERGER 3:2 DIVIDEND MARKET STOCK EXCHANGETrading for April 1, I949 AHBUTT LABS l6 GUMBALL co. 99 Ac E BRos. 37GULP coRR 59 STOCK EXCHANGE Trading for April 1, i940 AHBUTT LABS 32GUMBALL CO. 87 ACNE BROS. l6 GULP CORP. 50 A BACKSTIR M FIREBONE CO. 23SHINLEY CORP. I 68 FIXBORO INST. 45 STEADYBAKER 56 Trading for April 1,I959 STOCK EXCHANGE AHBUTT LAB ACNE BROS.

29 sTocK EXCHANGE 57 Trading for April 1, i950 AHBUTT LABS 47 GUMBALL ca46 INVENTOR' AcNE BROS. l6 GULP CORP. 99 B Thomas,

BACKSTMW BY FlREBONE co. 5? SHINLEY CORP. 27 M r'fiw FIXBORO INST. 89lOl STEADYBAKER ATTORNEYS.

PATENTED FEB 2197: 9559993 SHEET 2 OF 2 STOCK EXCHANGE Trading for April1, I943 a Q AHBUTT LABS e9 GUMBALL co. 45 I ACNE BROS. 55 GULP CORP! I6BMW FIXBORO INST I 26 STEADYBAKER 88 W 3 STOCK EXCHANGE L v Trading forApril 1, I958 AHBUTT LABS l8 GUMBALL co. 40 Q ACNE BROS- 55 GULP CORP..86 BACKSTIR LABS 22 sumam r [FIXBORO INST 55 STEADYBAKER 93 E AT MARKETSTOCK DIVIDEND/ EXTRA DIVIDEND SOLD SHORT A Fly. 2

iNVENTOR.

ATTOR N EYS William J. Thomas I STOCKMARKET GAME AND METHOD BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION With increased economic productivity, more and morepeople are becoming engaged in stock market pursuits, both frominvestment and from speculation standpoints. As people become moreconversant with stock market language, games are and have been developedfor purposes of entertainment, such games having stock marketenvironments.

Generally, it has been the practice, that such games have been limitedin that, the determination of a winner has generally been dependententirely upon chance, without the introduction into the game of anelement dependent upon a players skill, in which a skill of some sortmay be developed by a player and interjected into the game in order tomaintain the game at a maximum level of interest by each player.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directedtoward providing a stock market game, wherein an element of chance, suchas the throw of dice may be used to select stock buy and sell values,for example by selecting the buy and sell years for a given stock, andwherein a given stock transaction may be further affected by an elementof skill, for example the use of projectiles, such as a dart, thrown tostrike a divided surface, such as a dart board. The divisions in thedivided surface may comprise zones which carry information orinstructions regarding the further disposition or the transaction,indifferent degrees of complexity, either by giving complete informationin the zones themselves, or by reference to another means, for example adeck of cards, having randomly arranged instructions to interjectanother element of chance into the game.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novelstock market game utilizing elements of chance and elements of skill.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel stock marketgame, wherein stock market sheets are provided, 40

indicating various values for stocks, in various years, and wherein thebuy and sell years may be selected by means of dice with the striking ofa dart board by a dart indicating the further disposition of the stock.

It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object,wherein at least one of the alternative or further dispositions of thestock is determined by reference to a deck of randomly arranged cards.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of thefollowing brief description of the drawing FIGS. detailed description ofthe preferred embodiment, and the appended claims.

IN THE DRAWINGS In FIG. 1 there are illustrated all of the elementsnecessary to play the stock market game of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the manner in which a playerwould complete one sequence of play with the various elementsillustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, reference is first made to FIG.1, wherein there are illustrated a plurality of stock exchange buy"quotation sheets, collectively designated by the letter A, a pluralityof stock exchange sell quotation sheets, generally designated by theletter B, a pair of dice designated by the letter C, a dart board D, apair of darts E, a deck of"merger cards F, and a deck ofcrash" cards G.

The stock exchange buy quotation sheets A generally comprise ten sheets,numbered consecutively, for a given date over a period of years, forexample, indicating stock quotations for the date Apr. 1 of the years1940 through 1949 Each such quotation sheet would list the variousstocks which are used with the game, such as Ahbutt Labs, Acne Bros,Backstir, etc. along with the given dollar value of the stock for thatdate, with the dollar value for a given stock in each of the years 1940through 1949, preferably differing.

The stock exchange sellquotation sheets B are arranged generally similarto the sheets A, but would cover the years 1950 through 1959, along withthe dollar value quotations of each of the stocks for the date Apr. 1 ofthe associated year, with such values either increasing or decreasing asthe years vary.

Thus, a given stock such as e.g., Ahbutt Labs may vary, either byincreasing, decreasing, or some combination of the two, throughout theyears 1940 through 1949, and will also generally vary throughout theyears 1950 through 1959, in a predetermined manner.

The dice C would generally comprise two die, each with six surfaces, tocomprise a cube, with the surfaces of each die having a number ofdots'thereon varying from one dot to six dots. By using two such die,various combinations extending from two dots to 12 dots may be obtained.

The dart board D may be arranged as a rectangle, divided, for example,in'36 zones of equivalent area, with the zones indicating variousindicia in the form of instructions, to indicate merger, extra dividend,at market, split 3:1, split 3:2, split 2: 1, crash, stock dividend, soldshort, and the like. The board D would generally comprise a hardbacking, such as wood, with a zone-indicating surface constructed of asofter material, such as cork, to facilitate the entry of darts Etherein. Also, the horizontal and vertical lines separating the variousindicia-indicating zones may comprise permanent separations, such aswire or the like, if desired.

The darts E are generally used in pairs, in that it is desirable thateach player would receive two turns or throwsof the darts.

The darts E may be of conventional construction, having steel tips andfeathered trailing ends, or any other such construction that wouldenable a player to grasp a dart E and throw the same in the direction ofthe dart board D.

The group of merger cards F may be arranged in the form of an ordinarydeck of cards, but preferably each card should bear the indicia merger"on one side, in order to distinguish them from other cards, and shouldbear on the opposite side the name of one of the various stock companieslisted on the exchange quotation sheets A and B in order to indicate toa player the name of the new company with which his company is beingmerged.

The crash deck of cards G are also randomly arranged, each card bearingthe indicia crash in order to enable accumulation of the same in a deck,and each card also bearing an instruction indicating the final conditionof the market, in instances when the market would be in trouble, suchas, the stock falling 10 points, a company going bankrupt and paying ofstockholders only 10 cents on the dollar, etc,

In order to play the game, a group of players, for example four, will,in turn, select buy years from 1940 to 1949, by rolling the dice. Eachplayer, then in turn, will select a given stock for the year which hehas selected by his throw of the dice. For example, if the number 5 isthe total rolled on the dice, the quotations for the year 1945 would beused in selecting a stock. If the number 10 were rolled on the dice, theyear 1940 would be used. Similarly, the dice number 11 would require theuse of the year 1941, and a dice number of 2 would require the use ofthe year 1942 for purposes of stock selection, as would a dice readingof the number 12 It is to be noted, that each player has the option ofselecting a given number or lot size, e.g. shares of any stock from oneof the preselected buy sheets regardless of the cost of the 100 shares.

Each player, then in turn, would return the quotation sheet to one ofthe players who would act as a broker and would again roll the dice toselect a sell year. The buy and sell prices for each player are recordedby the broker on an exchange board, which, may preferably comprise ablackboard and chalk or the like, or even a pencil and paper with thebroker performing the necessary computations to keep a running score ofthe stock profits and losses for each player.

After the profit or loss of a given players transaction following his.purchase and sale of a stock is known according to the years determinedby the dice C, each player, then in turn, is allowed two throws of thedarts E at the board D. If two misses are made, the stock sale is notcompleted and the amount paid for the stock is shown as a loss in theplayer's account by the broker. Should one of the darts E strike a zoneof the board D, the first such dart to strike such a zone will givefurther instructions regarding the disposition of the sale ortransaction.

The particular zone struck by a dart E indicates the final salesdisposition to be recorded by the broker, with respect to thattransaction of a particular player, as follows. If the dart E struck azone indicated at market" the sale price determined by the sell"quotation sheet would remain in effect. Should the dart strike a zoneindicated by the indicia crash, this. would indicate .that the market isin trouble, whereupon the player thus throwing the dart would select theto card from a shuffled deck of crash" cards G, with a card thusselected indicating the final condition, such as a drop in the market ofl points for all stocks held, etc.

Should one of the zones marked extra dividend" be struck by a dart E, 50dollars may be added to the sale price, if the sell" year is prior to1955, and 100 dollars may be added to the sale price ifthe sell year is1955 of after.

Should a merger" zone be struck by a dart E, this would indicate thatthe stock has been purchased by another company,

merger has fallen through and a penalty should be provided, such as thesubtraction of 100 dollars from that player's account.

Should a zone indicated sold short be struck by a dart [3:

this would reverse a profit or loss previously attained by virtue years.

Should the dart E strike one of the zones indicated split", the playerwill then have an increased number of shares, as

determined by the type of split, to sell at the selling price for thestock sell year previously selected. For example, a 3:2 split would meanthat a previously held 100 shares worth, for-- example, 47 dollars each,could now be sold as 150 shares also at 47 dollars each. Similarly, a2:1 split would give the player 200 shares to sell, and a 3:1 splitwould give the player 300 shares to sell, both of the above assuming anoriginal 100 shares held by the player.

Should the zone indicated as stock dividend" be struck by a dart E, theplayer so striking such a zone would receive 10 times the number thrownon the dice in stock to add to the 100 shares being sold, or anothersuch bonus arrangement.

The game may be preferably continued in cycles of buying and selling 100share blocks of stock until one player reaches a predetermined value,for example that of 100,000 dollars, in his net profits account asdeterminedby the broker. Should more than one player reach this sum inthe same number of.

turns, the player with the highest total of net cash profit may.

win. It will further be apparent that shorter games may be played, suchas by limiting the game to 5 or turns or cycles, or even by setting apredetermined timelimit. Furthermore, if in selecting stock exchangequotation sheets A, two or more players select the same buy year, it maybe advisable to have the second player making such a selection makeanother selection, in order that no two players would be playing in thesame year.

Still additional limitationsmay be placed upon the games such as byusing a rule such that any playerwho is unfortunate enough to lose50,000 dollars may be considered bankrupt and disqualified fromadditional investments.

of the difference between the stock values of the buy and sell I It willbe apparent from the foregoing, that. various modifi cations may be madein the details of construction of the vari-, ous game elements, as wellasin the layout, and in the mannerof playing with the same, all withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A game whereby a plurality of players can simulate stockmarket transactions. comprising:

a. a plurality of stock exchange "buy quotation sheets consecutivelynumbered to correspond to a given date over a period of years, eachsheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality of corporations anda purchase price of the stock of each corporation at that date; aplurality of stock exchange fsell" quotation sheets con-.

secutively numbered to correspond to .a given date over a period ofyears, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality ofcorporations and a sale. price of the stock of each corporation at thatdate;

c. a pairof dice having indicia thereon for selection of the buy" andsell' stock quotation sheets by number value corresponding to the yearon said sheets upon rolling said dice;

indicating transactions to be made with the stocks of the. corporationson said buy" and sell quotation sheets; and

being adapted for being thrown at said dart board and sticking thereinin one of the zones thereof whereby in-..

dicia are selected to instruct the player throwing said dart as to whattransaction should be made with his stocks. The invention of claim 1wherein:

a. aplurality of merger cards are provided each bearing the name ofatleast one of said corporations listed on the.

exchange quotation sheets;

secutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period ofyears, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality ofcorporations and a purchase price of the stock of each corporation atthat date; a plurality of stock. exchange sell quotation sheetsconsecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period of.years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality ofcorporations and a sale price of the stock of each corporation at thatdate; a pair of dice having indicia thereon for selection of the buy..and

sell" stock quotation sheets by number value corresponding to the .yearon said. sheets upon rolling said dice; a dart board di. vided intozones having instruction indicia indicating transactions to be made withthe stocks of the corporations on said.- buy and sell quotation sheets;and, a pairof darts for use with said dart board, said darts beingadapted for being thrownat said dart board and sticking therein in oneof the zones thereof whereby indicia are selected to instruct theplayer; throwing said dart as to what transaction should bemadewith,

his stocks; comprising thesteps of? a. throwing the dice to select a"buy" year for. stock and,

drawing the buy" quotation sheet for that year, selecting a stock fromthat quotation sheetanddetermining the) buying price of that stock fromthe quotation sheetv and.

recording said buying price and stock;

b. throwing the dice to select a selling year for the stock and;-

selecting the. sell quotation sheet for that :year and determining the.selling ,price for that stock for that year and recording that sellingprice;

. a dart board dividedinto zones having instruction indicia v a pair of.darts for use with said dart board, said darts a plurality of .crashcards are provided each bearing instruction indicia indicating the finalcondition of the.,,.

c. throwing a dart at the dart board to select an instruction regard toa stock transaction; said dart board having merger" and crash indiciathereon whereby upon selection of said last mentioned indicia by havinga dart thrown into the zone containing said indicia the player sothrowing the dart is instructed to draw the corresponding merger" orcrash" card and carry out the instructions thereon with respect to hisstock.

3 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, D dFebruary 2,

Inventor-( WILLIAM J. THOMAS It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified pateni and thac said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 1 line 36 after "inarket" insert the word --quotation--.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of June 1971.

EDWARD M.FLETGHER,JH.

Commissioner of Patent 'Attesting Officer

1. A game whereby a plurality of players can simulate stock markettransactions, comprising: a. a plurality of stock exchange ''''buy''''quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given dateover a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying aplurality of corporations and a purchase price of the stock of eachcorporation at that date; b. a plurality of stock exchange ''''sell''''quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given dateover a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying aplurality of corporations and a sale price of the stock of eachcorporation at that date; c. a pair of dice having indicia thereon forselection of the ''''buy'''' and ''''sell'''' stock quotation sheets bynumber value corresponding to the year on said sheets upon rolling saiddice; d. a dart board divided into zones having instruction indiciaindicating transactions to be made with the stocks of the corporationson said ''''buy'''' and ''''sell'''' quotation sheets; and e. a pair ofdarts for use with said dart board, said darts being adapted for beingthrown at said dart board and sticking therein in one of the zonesthereof whereby indicia are selected to instruct the player throwingsaid dart as to what transaction should be made with his stocks.
 2. Theinvention of claim 1 wherein: a. a plurality of ''''merger'''' cards areprovided each bearing the name of at least one of said corporationslisted on the exchange quotation sheets; b. a plurality of ''''crash''''cards are provided each bearing instruction indicia indicating the finalcondition of the stock market with regard to a stock transaction; and c.said dart board has ''''merger'''' and ''''crash'''' indicia thereonwhereby upon selection of said last mentioned indicia by having a dartthrown into the zone containing said indicia, the player so throwing thedart is instructed to draw the corresponding ''''merger'''' or''''crash'''' card and carry out the instructions thereon with respectto his stock.
 3. A method of playing a simulated stock market game,having a plurality of stock exchange ''''buy'''' quotation sheetsconsecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period ofyears, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality ofcorporations and a purchase price of the stock of each corporation atthat date; a plurality of stock exchange ''''sell'''' quotation sheetsconsecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period ofyears, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality ofcorporations and a sale price of the stock of each corporation at thatdate; a pair of dice having indicia thereon for selection of the''''buy'''' and ''''sell'''' stock quotation sheets by number valuecorresponding to the year on said sheets upon rolling said dice; a dartboard divided into zones having instruction indicia indicatingtransactions to be made with the stocks of the corporations on said''''buy'''' and ''''sell'''' quotation sheets; and a pair of darts foruse with said dart board, said darts being adapted for being thrown atsaid dart board and sticking therein in one of the zones thereof wherebyindicia are selected to instruct the player throwing said dart as towhat transaction should be made with his stocks; comprising the stepsof: a. throwing the dice to select a ''''buy'''' year for stock anddrawing the ''''buy'''' quotation sheet for that year, selecting a stockfrom that quotation sheet and determining the buying price of that stockfrom the quotation sheet and recording said buying price and stock; b.throwing the dice to select a selling year for the stock and selectingthe sell quotation sheet for that year and determining the selling pricefor that stock for that year and recording that selling price; c.throwing a dart at the dart board to select an instruction to indicate astock transaction; and d. making said transaction by recording the valuethereof upon carrying out said last-mentioned instruction.
 4. Theinvention of claim 3 wherein said game includes a plurality of''''merger'''' cards, each bearing the name of at least one of saidcorporations listed on the exchange quotation sheets; a plurality of''''crash'''' cards, each bearing instruction indicia indicating thefinal condition of the stock market with regard to a stock transaction;said dart board having ''''merger'''' and ''''crash'''' indicia thereonwhereby upon selection of said last mentioned indicia by having a dartthrown into the zone containing said indicia, the player so throwing thedart is instructed to draw the corresponding ''''merger'''' or''''crash'''' card and carry out the instructions thereon with respectto his stock.